robotwarsfandomcom-20200215-history
Bar spinners
Bar spinners are a type of heavy rotating weapon. First appearing in Series 3 of Robot Wars in the form of a spinning hammer, wielded by Hammertron, they gained widespread recognition following Fluffy's appearance in Series 5. In Robot Wars, the most successful robot to use a bar spinner was Series 9 champion Carbide. Other successful robots with this weapon type include Battle of the Stars co-champion Arena Cleaner and Series 9 third- and fourth-place finishers Ironside3 and Aftershock, whose bar spinner was interchangeable with a vertical spinning disc. Definition Bar spinners are heavy rotating blades, motor-driven to quickly accelerate and inflict damage. Bar spinners differ from flywheels and other spinning discs due to their shape - usually a long rectangular bar with blunt, bladed or spiked tips - which offer much more engagement with the blade as a result of their smaller but denser designs. Bar spinners can be similar in shape to lawnmower blades, but are distinguished by their generally heavier weight, and use for concussive blows over cutting. Heavy rotating blades are very versatile weapons. Not only are their designs open to variation, but they can also be mounted horizontally or vertically, incorporated into an invertible design, and designed for either piercing or hammering other robots. Bar spinners must be equally weighted on both halves of the bar, but are not required to by symmetrical. Some are capable of operating bi-rotationally, as with the weapons of IG-88 and Tauron, while robots such as Ironside3 and Apex were designed to accommodate different types of bar spinner as interchangeable weapons. Before bar spinners rose to prominence after first being used by Fluffy, Robot Wars previously saw competitors use spinning hammers as weapons, functioning much like a bar spinner, but with externally weighted tips. Robots such as Zorro and rejected US Series entry Son of Whyachi also used triangular-shaped bar spinners with three blades, covering the entire surface of the robot in a similar manner to a full-body spinner. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages *As bar spinners do not require an outer ring, they can have larger radius than a spinning disc. This is an advantage because it means a spinning bar will have a larger reach than a equivalent spinning disc. *Because the weight of a bar spinner is distributed in a smaller but denser weapon than a disc, the attack zone can be greater whilst actually increasing damage output. Compare the weapons of IG-88 and Vader for example. *When mounted horizontally, robots can incorporate them into invertible designs. Many successful wielders of this weapon are invertible, including Carbide, Fluffy and Arena Cleaner. **Vertical bar spinners can also be incorporated into invertible designs, as seen with Tauron. *Depending on the weapon's size and power, the gyroscopic forces of a horizontal bar spinner can prevent the robot from being completely flipped over when the weapon spins at full speed. Carbide demonstrated this characteristic during two of its fights against Apollo in the Series 8 Grand Final, and in its Series 9 Grand Final battle against Eruption. *Depending on the robot's design, a vertical bar spinner can also function as a self-righting mechanism, pushing or 'kicking' the robot back onto its wheels as the weapon makes contact with the arena floor or walls. Aftershock's asymmetrical bar spinner demonstrated this capability during its Series 10 Heat Semi-Final against Carbide. Disadvantages *Due to their increased wind resistance over flywheels, bar spinners require a lot of kinetic energy which draws more current into their motors and places more stress on their components. This can lead to various reliability issues, including malfunctions. Zorro was defeated in its first-round battle in Series 7 after its excessive energy consumption drained the robot's batteries of essential power to its weapon and self-righting mechanism. Fluffy and Carbide's blades were also susceptible to failure on various occasions, with the latter's defeats to TR2 and Apollo in the Series 8 Grand Final being partly blamed on a malfunctioning weapon clutch. *As with other spinning weapons, the recoil from a bar spinner can also adversely affect the robot's reliability. Fluffy was notorious for breaking down as a result of its attacks on other competitors throughout its appearances, such as its Series 5 Heat Final battle against Pussycat. *Furthermore, said recoil can also cause the robot to be launched in a different direction or even airborne, as shown in most of Carbide's battles during Series 8-10. This could also result in the robot somersaulting or being flipped upside down once the bar hits the floor or other robots, as shown in Ironside3's battles against Eruption and Aftershock in Series 9. The largest bar spinner in Robot Wars, Apex, lost its bar spinner entirely in a battle with Track-tion, catapulting the remaining robot across the arena, while the spinner broke through the arena's bulletproof glass. *As one of the heaviest weapons, very few robots with this weapon have a fallback in the event that the weapon breaks. Carbide struggled to respond to TR2 and Apollo's attacks in Series 8 once its weapon failed to work, and Das Gepäck was able to recover ground once Fluffy's weapon broke. *Given that bar spinners were prohibited from most live events, it is very expensive to create one when chances of qualification are limited. As with other spinning weapons, their dangerous nature also restricts opportunities for testing outside of Robot Wars, potentially compounding the reliability issues discussed above. *Unlike discs, which tear through obstructing objects due to the minimal surface area to be impacted, heavy rotating blades are easier to stop if a robot is heavy enough to absorb the impact. Fluffy's weapon was halted by Das Gepack in the UK vs Germany final, and was unable to start spinning again. *The gyroscopic forces of a vertical bar spinner can adversely affect the robot's control as it turns round, often resulting in the robot lifting onto one side as with vertical flywheels and drums. This characteristic was noticeably demonstrated by Tauron during its Series 10 Group Battle, although with no significant effect on its performance in-battle. *The mounting for bar spinners often results in a robot's weapon chain being exposed, which once allowed Nuts 2 to disable Carbide's weapon during the Series 10 Grand Final. List of robots with Bar spinners Robots are listed alphabetically. Robots which are not heavyweight entries are listed with a green background. References Category:Weapon Types Category:Robots with Bar Spinners